By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The S&P/ASX 200 fell 328.9 points or 4.7% to 6,603.1 after the first 90 minutes of Tuesday’s deals with markets re-opening after a public holiday yesterday, posting the worst declines since the Covid-19 crash in March 2020 and falling to the lowest levels since February 2021 as traders priced in more aggressive interest rate rises while bond yields surged.
ASX 200 Futures were pointing 0.4% lower.
Among stocks, S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology led the decline, falling 7.6% overall as Block Inc (ASX:SQ2) shed 17%, Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) lost 8.6%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) fell 6.7%, Link Administration Holdings Ltd (ASX:LNK) dipped 4.5%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) retreated 13.2% and Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) dipped 10.3%.
Materials were 5.7% lower as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) dipped 5.7%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) lost 5.9%, Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) fell 7.9% and Champion Iron Ltd (ASX:CIA) dropped 8.3%.
Financials fell 4.7% collectively, with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) down 5.9%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) falling 5.7%, National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) down 5.1%, Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) dipped 6.4% and Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) falling 5.1%.
Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) also tanked 19.1%.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year rates were at 3.966%, the highest levels since April 2014, while United States 10-Year rates shot up to fresh 11-year highs of 3.356%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 fell 3% to 10,599.